Sewing seam and method of making same



Aug. 19, 1947.

J. H. SCHWEICH SEWING SEAM AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed July 17, 1944lM/ew-rwe:

Joseph H. ScHwszcH,

Patented Aug. 119, 1947 SEWING SEAM AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME .l'osephH. Schweich, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to Wcil-Kalter ManufacturingCompany, St.

Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application July 17, 1944, SerialNo. 545,211

Claims.

This invention relates to a new sewing seam and the method of making thesame, and has particular applicability for use in seaming sheermaterial, such as used in womens lingerie, and the like. It will berecognized, however, that the improve ments have a wide range ofapplication.

In the manufacture of garments, and particularly those of sheermaterial, it has been the usual practice to form the seam adjacent totwo edges of the material, both of which are pinked on the free edges,and then to turn the material and top stitch with a zigzag needle toform the completed seam. This method produces'a strong seam but theinside of the seam, since it is unfinished at the edges, has a tendencyto fray and ravel, ultimately causing the seam to stretch and pull out.Moreover, a seam of this character does not have as desirable anappearance as one that is hemmed or inturned.

Another method is to join the adjacent edges of the cloth by a singleneedle seam, leaving a margin at each side of approximately This marginis then opened out and the trimmed edges hemmed and held by a singleneedle stitch. A seam of this character requires the finishing stitch tosew through five thicknesses of the material. While a finished seam ofthis character has a neat appearance, it has disadvantages in that itproduces a seam that is unduly thick; one that is not strong enough toavoid popping and, as a result, the garments, such as womens lightslips, do not wear or drape well.

It is the object of the present invention to overcome the foregoingdisadvantages inherent in the present methods of seaming, and to providea seam that will be strong in order to avoid pulling out; that will notbe unduly thick at the seam line, and which will have a neat andfinished appearance. Such a seam also does not interfere with properdraping of the garment.

These advantages are obtained by the seam and method of making the sameas is hereinafter more fully disclosed, reference being made to theaccompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 illustrate the first step in the operation, the needle andtrimmer being indicated diagrammatically;

Fig, 2 shows the relation of the parts as a result of the firstoperation shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a fragment of the material in which the firststep has been performed;

Fig. 4 illustrates the second step of opening out the material;

Fig. 5 illustrates the material reversed and in position to be inturnedand hemmed;

Fig. 6 illustrates the final step of completing the stitching, theneedle being illustrated diagrammatically as performing a zigzag stitch;

Fig. 7 is a plan View of a fragment of the material after the secondoperation has been performed; and,

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section through the material, illustrating thecompleted seam taken substantially on the line 88 of Fig. '7.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, the firststep is to assemble two plies l and 2 of the material to be seamedflatwise in the relation shown in Fig. 1. The two plies of material arethen stitched through by a single needle 3 forming a stitch 4. While asingle needle stitch is shown, the line of stitching may be of anydesired type of stitch. During the stitching operation, the marginaledges of both plies extending beyond the stitch line 4 are preferablytrimmed by a trimmer 5, and by insetting a rod or cord 6 that bows themarginal edge of the upper ply upwardly, leaving the edges of both pliesfree and trimmed. The rod or cord 6 affords greater width of the margin'1 from the stitch line to the edge of the upper ply than the margin 8of the lower ply, so that when the stitch and trimming is completed, therelationship of the marginal edges are as indicated in Fig. 2.

It will'be obvious that the insertion of the cord or rod provides aconvenient means for obtaining the differential in length of the marginof the two plies beyond the stitch line, but that the same result can beaccomplished by hand trimming, or other suitable means, the onlyobjective being to obtain the overlapping and extension of the edge ofthe upper ply beyond that of the lower ply.

After the first step of the stitching has been accomplished, asillustrated in Figs. 1-3, the plies are straightened out, as illustratedin Fig. 4, and turned over as illustrated in Fig. 5.

The second sewing stitch of the operation is illustrated in Fig. 6. Thisconsists in performing a folding, which inturns the marginal edge 1 ofthe now upper margin of the greater width, under the margin 8 of lesswidth, the relation of parts being as illustrated in Fig. 8. At the bendof the margin of the upper ply a line of stitch [0 preferably made by azigzag needle I l, and preferably engaging the edge of enfolded ply, isco-instantly performed with the hemming operation.

While the zigzag stitch is preferred, as it provides a strong seam, asingle needle or other type of stitch may be substituted.

By reference to Fig. 8, it will be noted that this manner of stitchingresults in a fiat seam, because the threads of the stitch pass onlythrough three full layers of material and engage only the edge of theshorter marginal edge of the lower P y- The stitching thus producedresults in a strong bond between the sections of the material, that isrelatively flat and one that has a finished appearance. A stitch of thischaracter will not pull open with ordinary strain, even with very sheermaterial. The stitch is fiat enough to prevent any puckering at the seamline, and thus avoids unsatisfactory draping of a garment manufacturedwith the stitch disclosed.

It will thus be seen that the improvement herein disclosed solves adifiicult problem in sewing, particularly of garments of light sheermaterial. While its particular virtue is for use in connection with suchmaterial, it will be understood that the stitch has additional uses as asatisfactory means of joining cloth of varying thickness.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited beyond thescope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

A method of stitching two portions of material together, comprisinglaying one portion on top of the other with their edges overlapping insuperposed relation, stitching the portions together to provide marginaledges and simultaneously causing one edge to be wider outside thestitching than the other, by inserting a bulging device between theportions outside the stitch line to lift one marginal edge out of theplane of the other, separating the portions from overlying position to aposition wherein they extend oppositely from the line of stitching, withthe marginal edges extending outwardly therefrom, turning the widermarginal edge around the narrower, and stitching the margin down to oneof the portions.

2. A method of stitching two portions of material together, includingthe steps of laying one portion on top of the other adjacent theiredges, stitching the portions together along a stitch line inside theiredges to provide a marginal edge on each, bulging the top marginrelative to the other, simultaneously trimming through both marginsbeyond the bulge, whereby to provide the two margins with definitewidths, one wider than the other, separating the portions from overlyingposition to a position wherein they extend oppositely from the line ofstitching, with the marginal edges extending outwardly therefrom,turning the wider marginal edge around the narrower, folding the turnedportions down over the portion having the narrower margin and stitchingthe margin down to said portion having the narrower margin.

3. A method of forming a seam joining two pieces of fabric, comprisingthe steps of supplying two pieces of fabric to a stitching device for 4stitching along a predetermined line. and stitching them together alongthe line, and simultaneously with the stitching operation trimming thepieces at different distances from the line, thereby providing marginaledges on the two pieces beyond the stitching with one marginal edgewider than the other, thereafter folding the wider marginal edge overthe narrower marginal edge to provide a fold arrangement, folding thearrangement thus formed down against the piece of fabric having thenarrower edge to dispose the inturned wider edge against the said piece,and stitching the arrangement down to the said piece.

4. A method of forming a seam joining two pieces of fabric, comprisingthe steps of supplying two pieces of fabric to a stitching device forstitching along a predetermined line, and stitching them together alongsaid line, trimming the two pieces while they are engaged and held bythe stitching device at different distances from the line, therebyproviding marginal edges on the two pieces beyond the stitching with onemarginal edge wider than the other, thereafter folding the widermarginal edge over the narrower marginal edge to provide a foldarrangement, folding the arrangement thus formed down against the pieceof fabric having the narrower edge to dispose the inturned wider edgeagainst the said piece, and stitching the arrangement down to the saidpiece.

5. A method of forming a seam joining two pieces of fabric, comprisingthe steps of supplying two pieces of fabric to a stitching device withthe one piece disposed above the other for stitching together along apredetermined line, and stitching the pieces together along said linewhile they are one abOVe the other, and simultaneously with thestitching operation trimming their edges at different distances from theline, thereby providing marginal edges on the two pieces beyond thestitching with one marginal edge wider than the other, thereafterfolding the wider marginal edge over the narrower marginal edge toprovide a fold arrangement, folding the arrangement thus formed downagainst the piece of fabric having the narower edge to dispose theinturned wider edge against the said piece, and stitching thearrangement down to the said piece.

JOSEPH H. SCHWEICH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,504,550 Gruman Aug. 12, 19242,169,590 Myers Aug. 15, 1939 520,292 Betz May 22, 1894

